Motor-fuel for internal-combustion engines



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE E. DINSMORE, E

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

MOTOR-FUEL FOR INTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINES.

No Drawing.

. fuel of that kind which will meet the practical requirements ofordinary motor car service in all kinds of weather, and which, to thatend, will be obtainable at reasonable cost, will vaporize freely withoutthe use of a preheater, and will burn without objectionable deposit ofcarbon in the motor.

Heretofore light gasolene has been the preferred fuel for this service,but the demand has so far outrun the supply that heavier grades ofmineral oil have been resorted to of necessity, until the motor gasolenesold today approaches more nearly to the grade of kerosene than of lightgasolene with the result that it vaporizes too slowly and burns soimperfectly as to leave a considerable deposit of soot. Loss of powerand difficulty in starting the motor particularly in cold weather arefurther objectionable consequences.

The present invention is based on the dis- "covery that methyl acetateeither alone or in mixture with other volatile and combustible liquids,when used in relatively small proportions with kerosene or the lighterdistillates of petroleum, forms a quick vaporizing agent which willgreatly accelerate vaporization of the fuel for the purpose ofcarbureting the air drawn into the motor,

and will burn with practically complete freedom from soot deposit in thecylinder and valve passages. v

While the present invention makes possible and satisfactory the use ofkerosene as the basis for the motor fluid, nevertheless, it is to beunderstood that other liquid distillates of petroleum may also betreated in accordance with this invention using a lesser proportion ofthe vaporizing agent if lighter distillates of petroleum are used. Thistreatment consists essentially in mixing with the petroleum distillateto beused a suitable quantity of a vaporizing element Specification ofLetters Patent. Patented Feb, 17, 1920,

Application filed March 19, 1919. Serial No. 283,550.

which will mingle freely and permanently with the petroleum distlllateat all atmospheric temperatures and cause a more rapid and easyvaporization thereof and to form with the air an explosive orcombustible mixture which shall burn without depositing carbon inthe'motor.

Another feature of the invention consists in the economical productionof methyl alcohol, as a by-product, in the production of the presentmotor fluid.

The use of methyl acetate alone under present conditions would be tooexpensive for ordinary commercial service on account of the high cost ofthat substance. There are,however,muchless costly compounds in whichmethyl acetate occurs in association with other substances particularlyketones that are highly combustible and inflammable, and which becauseof the presence of the methyl acetate will remain permanently mixed withkerosene or other petroleum distillate at all usual ranges ofatmospheric temperature.

There are at least two such substances already produced on a commercialscale in industrial processes that are available at sufficiently lowcost and obtainable in sufliciently large quantities to meet thepractical requirements of this problem. Moreover, I have found that themere mechanical mixing of these compounds with kerosene or the likeaffords a new commercially economical method of obtaining as aby-product methyl alcohol without the time-consumincr and expensiveresort to fractional distillation or other methods heretofore in vogue.

In the process of destructive distillation of wood there are produced atdifferent stages or in different branches of the process two substances,each of which contains sufficient methyl acetate for the purposes of thepresent invention, and in association with a considerable percentage ofketones which, without the presence of the'methyl acetate will notremain mixed with kerosene at low atmospheric temperature but which,when mixed or associated with the methyl acetate, will not separate fromthe kerosene at such temperatures.

The first of these substances is the socalled crude wood spirit which asit is found in the destructive distillation of wood usually comprises amixture approximately as follows: .48 methyl alcohol, .30 methyl acetateand ketones of which a considerable part is acetone, .04.- lightvolatile oils, and .18 water.

On mixing this crude wood spirit with kerosene or other liquid petroleumdlstillate in'the proportion of say, for example 1 part of wood spiritand 5 parts of kerosene, it will be found that the kerosene has absorbedor taken up practically all of the ketone ingredients and the methylacetate and has rejected the methyl alcohol and water. The methylalcohol may be easily separated from the water by well known methods,while the kerosene containing the methyl acetate and ketones forms avery effective nd satisfactory motor fluid which will remain a permanentmixture at temperatures far below the freezing point of water and willquickly vaporize 1n the ca'bureter and will burn with practicallycomplete freedom from soot deposit in the cylinder and the valvepassages.

The recovery of methyl alcohol by the simple operation of the mechanicalmixing with kerosene gives a valuable by-product tending to materiallyreduce the cost of the motor fluid thereby promoting its commercialavailability, and this forms a valuable and important feature of thepresent invention. i

Of course, in the event that methylacetate could'beproduced at muchlower cost than is now possible, the methyl-acetate whether with orwithout ketones could be mixed directly with kerosene in suitableproportions to meet the requirement for any particular purpose.

It will be understood that the proportion given above for mixingkerosene with crude wood spirit may be considerably varied according tothe particular requirements or circumstances such as the prevailingrange of atmospheric temperature where the fluid is to be used, oraccording to the grade of petroleum distillate that is used as the basisof the motor fluid mixture. In general a I larger proportion of themethyl acetate-keand usually a much smaller Just as in the case of thetone content will increase the vaporizing effect but at a correspondingincrease in the cost of the fluid.

. The other substance derived from destructive distillation of woodmentioned above that is applicable to the purposes of this invention isthe methyl acetone obtained from the distillation of the gray acetate oflime which is produced in the treatment of the products obtained fromthe destructive distillation of wood. This methyl acetone so producedischaracterized by the presence of a considerable quantity of methylacetate quantity of methyl alcohol. crude wood spirit mentioned abovethe ad mixture of this methyl acetone with the of the methyl acetate.

- kerosene or other petroleum liquid distillate acetate and ketonecontent will be absorbed by the petroleum. It is to be noted, however,that inasmuch as the ketone content in the methyl acetone is relativelymuch greater than in the crude wood spirit a smaller proportion of themethyl -acetone may be mixed with the kerosene to secure practically thesame resultant composition of motor fluid, so that in this case from 10to 15 parts of kerosene may be mixed with one part of methyl acetone toform the motor fluid.

Whether produced from either substance or other analogous substances inthe art it will be found that the presence of a substantial quantity ofmethyl acetate will serve to fix the associated ketones permanently inthe motor fluid mixture so that they will not be separated or thrown outby-the chilling effect of low temperature which would in most instancesoccur without the presence Moreover, as in both substances the methylacetate is associated with a substantial amount of methyl alcohol in thecrude products of wood distillation, the recovery of wood alcohol by theinexpensive process of'mixing kerosene to separate from the ketonespermits the obtaining of the proper ketone ingredients at a minimum costso that the motor fluid can be produced within a cost of commercialavailability which is an essential requirement in motor fluid intendedfor general use.

What I claim is:

l. The herein described process of producing a liquid fuel for internalcombustion motors or the like which consists in mixing with the methylacetone containing liquid product of the destructive distillation ofwood, a relatively larger quantity of petroleum distillate, therebyabsorbing the methyl acetone content of said liquid product into thekerosene and leaving the methyl alcohol contentphysically separatetherefrom and mechanically separating the methyl alcohol from the otheringredients, substantially as described.

2. The herein described process of separating the ketone and methylacetate ingrepermanently mixed therewith a quick vaporizing agentcontaining methyl acetate, substantially as described.

4. A motor fluid for internal combustion engines consisting principallyof kerosene,

in which is mingled a relatively small proportion of ketones containingmethyl acetate, substantially as described.

5. A motor fluid for internal combustion engines comprising a liquiddistillate of petroleum such as kerosene and a ketone ingredientcontaining methyl acetate, the kerosene and the methyl-acetate ketonecontent being in substantially the proportions set forth.

6. A motor fluid for internal combustion engines comprising a liquiddistillate of petroleum such as kerosene and a relatively smallpercentage of methyl acetate mixed therewith, substantially asindicated.

In Witness whereof, I have subscribed to the above specification.

GEORGE F. DINSMORE.

